Fire, Red Bulls Play To 1-1 Draw

The Chicago Fire enjoyed a productive day in its first action of the preseason against an MLS opponent as the Men in Red won and tied against the New York Red Bulls in a doubleheader at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Marco Pappa tallied his second goal of the preseason to erase Red Bull midfielder Joel Lindpere’s first half strike as Carlos de los Cobos’ first choice side drew 1-1 with its Eastern Conference foe. Trialing striker Orr Barouch impressed in the morning fixture, scoring four goals in 90 minutes up top for the Fire in a 4-2 victory to kickoff the day.

The Red Bulls took the lead in the 18th minute when Lindpere collected the ball outside of the box and fired a low driven shot past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson and into the right corner of the net.

Trailing 1-0, the Fire pulled level just eight minutes into the second half. Patrick Nyarko dribbled to the endline and sent an angled cross to a wide-open Marco Pappa, who effectively took a touch and buried the ball into the back of the net from six yards out. Pappa scored his second goal in as many games during the club’s preseason camp in the Sunshine State.

The Fire had an opportunity to sweep the New York side on the day when Nyarko was fouled in the area by Red Bull defender Rafa Marquez. Pappa stepped to the spot to give the Fire the lead, however, Red Bull ‘keeper Bouna Condoul guessed correctly and stymied the Guatemalan’s effort.

In game one, a Fire lineup made mostly of trialists, used three first half goals from Barouch and one more at the end of the match to pace the side past Red Bull 4-2. Barouch tallied on a 2nd minute penalty kick, finished a low cross from Yoximar in the 30th, before chesting down another centering pass from tryout winner Pari Pantazopoulos in the 42nd and ended the scoring with a feed from Jason Herrick in the 90th minute.

Red Bull equalized shortly after Barouch’s first goal with a free kick from midfielder John Rooney in the 9th minute while rookie Corey Hertzog pulled things within one from the penalty spot in the 68th minute

The team will wrap up their time in Florida when they take on Seattle Sounders FC at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL on Saturday, February 26 at 1:00 PM CT. The match is FREE and open to the public.